ANDREW Surman insists Cherries will not cower when stepping out into Stoke City’s cauldron of noise tomorrow (3pm).

The Britannia Stadium has the seventh-smallest capacity in the Premier League but ranks as second only to Manchester United for volume according to data recorded by the Press Association last season.

A similar study saw the Potters come out on top during their first season in the big time and Stoke have registered 61 of their 84 top-flight victories on home soil since promotion in 2008.

But the midfielder is adamant Cherries are well versed in handling raucous atmospheres after their run to promotion last season and reckons his colleagues will take the crescendo of Staffordshire sound in their stride.

Surman told the Daily Echo: “When you go to these places and play in front of thousands, the noise comes with the territory and it is one of the reasons you play football.

“We won’t be intimidated by that. We embraced being in front of big, noisy crowds last season. It is the sort of thing this group relishes and looks forward to.

“As much as you enjoy the atmosphere, you do cut it out to an extent as well. You can’t let it affect you before you go out on the pitch because, once you’re out there, it is 11 against 11 and your focus is on your role and what the team is doing.

“You just have to enjoy it and not think about it too much.”

Stoke manager Mark Hughes has presided over consecutive ninth-placed finishes since taking over from ex-Cherries boss Tony Pulis in 2013 but has yet to oversee a win this season.

And although Hughes has been credited with bringing a different style to the Potteries, Surman is still expecting to face a rigorous test as Cherries look to build on last weekend’s victory over Sunderland.

“They were very route one under Tony Pulis, which was effective and worked for them,” he added. “Having seen them play recently, they probably have changed their style a little bit but they are still a physical team and we will have to match that first and foremost if we are to impose our style on the game.

“Our confidence has stayed pretty high. I didn’t feel we lost any confidence after Norwich because we knew we had played well enough in the other games this season and could compete.

“There were no panic stations when we lost one game where we didn’t play as well as we could have.

“Going to Stoke on the back of beating Sunderland is a boost, though, and we will believe, like every other game we go into, that we can win.”